Hildebrand Ends Season with a Bang in Season Finale at Homestead

10.20.2009

J.R. Hildebrand, of Sausalito, California, had already clinched the Firestone Indy Lights championship heading into last weekends race at the Homestead Miami Speedway, but still managed to put on quite a show in the season finale. After qualifying seventh, Hildebrand went straight to the front of the pack at the start, passing for the lead by the midway point, then fighting to hold off Mario Romancini to the finish, coming up just inches short in the series second closest finish in history. On the Sunday following the race, Hildebrand went on to accept a variety of awards marking his and his teams accomplishments in 2009.

Hildebrand and his Andretti Green/AFS Racing crew got to work as usual in practice in Homestead, working hard to find a good setup for the race. They knew going into the weekend that the 1.5 mile oval could be quite difficult in racing conditions, so they focused most of their energy on that. In qualifying for Friday evenings race, they couldnt manage to find the speed they needed to start at the front and ended up seventh on the starting grid, but were still upbeat about their chances.

Its a track that changes a lot and catches a lot of guys out, Hildebrand related. We worked mostly on our race setup, because we didnt think that qualifying would be that important and have had a tough time on test days here in the past. In practice I felt like I was one of the only guys that was legitimately able to pass other cars, so we were banking on that being the case in the race as well.

Hildebrand timed the start just right, threading the needle between the cars in Row Three, and then passing both cars on Row Two by the end of the first lap and slotting into third. He followed front row starters Wade Cunningham and James Davison for several laps before making his way past and eventually Davison just after halfway. Hildebrand then had Mario Romancini in his mirrors for much of the remainder of the race, though was able to keep him at bay until a late race caution. Hildebrand found himself fighting his car more than usual for a couple of laps, allowing Romancini to build some momentum, and on the last lap at the exit of Turn Four, Romancini was able to pull out of the draft and won the drag race to the line by the slimmest of margins.

Its frustrating, but at the same time I knew that he had a little left in the tank and that if he could just time it right there wasnt going to be much I could do about it without putting both of us at risk, Hildebrand said. I also had Sebastain catching up to us, so I was probably focusing a little less on myself and a little more on trying to figure out if I could help him get by Romancini than I could have. Even coming in second, Im really glad that we had such a strong run here to end the season, this place has not been very nice to us, so Im glad it finally came around!

On Sunday, Hildebrand went on to collect a variety of awards for his accomplishments in 2009 at the Indycar Series Championship Celebration. Besides the mini Firestone Firehawk Cup, he also received the Greg Moore Legacy Award, the Raybestos Road and Street Course Challenge Award, the Lucas Oil Frequent Pole Sitter Award, the Securing Tomorrow Award from Gregory and Appel Insurance for winning the most races, the Palmer Family Frequent Podium Award, and the Sunoco Most Improved Driver Award. He would like to thank his Andretti Green/AFS Racing team, along with ARPRO, Bald Spot Sports, The Racemaker Press, and Doug Mockett and Company for their continued help and support, and an amazing 2009 season.